June 23, 2020 Change-Over Induction

The regular Tuesday morning meeting on June 23rd was shifted to an evening event to include the Change-Over Induction from current President Taro Masuda to incoming President Earl Crowe, and his Board of Directors. At one time, 20 members and guests were present on the Zoom call.

Announcements

Leslie and Mike Coleman announced that their house had sold in a short time They had 11 showings, 2 cash offers (both over asking price). They accepted one and are moving to Arkansas soon.

Carol Adamson has received the Rotary face masks and will distribute them to those who ordered.

Robin DeRock reminded us of her husband Richard DeRock's District Governor Induction ceremony at Town Toyota Center on Tuesday, June 30th at 5:30 pm (social begins at 5:00 pm). Valerie, Rotary International Director from Ontario, Canada, will be the feature speaker.

WENATCHEE CONFLUENCE ROTARY - DISTRICT GOVERNOR CHANGE OVER PACKS

COST: 2 People: $50. 10 People: $250

MENU:
Entrée Selection: served in 50/50 portions (for 10 pack only – one meat ONLY for 2 pack)

-Marinated flank steak with chimichurri sauce
-Baked blackened salmon

Side selection:  
-Roasted new potatoes with garlic and herbs

Salad selection: comes with dinner roll & butter
-Spring salad: mixed greens, mandarin orange wedges, Chevre cheese, drizzled with shallot vinaigrette.

Dessert:  -Summer Parfait selection (lemon, strawberry, mixed berry)

ALL orders must be placed by Friday, June 26th @ 4PM. Catering packs will be PICK UP ONLY @ Town Toyota Center on Tuesday, June 30th between 3pm-4:30pm. They will be heated and ready for serving.

The link for ordering the catering: 

https://www.towntoyotacenter.com/wenatchee-confluence-rotary-dist-gov-change-over

Any catering questions should go to Katie Atkinson, Sales Manager, Town Toyota Center. 509-888-7363

Adele

A slide show of Adele's visit with us this year was shown. She will be leaving us on June 27th. She joined in the Change-Over activities via Zoom on her phone while returning from the ocean beaches! Link to Adele's photos: Adele Photos Link to Adele's slide show:

Adele Slide Show

Taro Masuda

Outgoing President Taro reflected on some of the club's accomplishments this past year:

Check out the video with some of the year's projects, meetings, people, and more.

-Wenatchee Senior Center grounds clean up and pruning
-Several 2nd Harvest food donation work parties
-The Gorge Concert series fund raiser
-Painting and clean up of Lorraine Church's deck and yard
-Contributions to support Sister Connection in Africa
-Two Youth Exchange students, one inbound and one outbound
-Assisted Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center with chocolate/cookies for children's event
-Christmas Party and White Elephant gift exchange
-Yard clean up for club member Ron Griffith, and for Habitat for Humanity home
-Apple Century Bike Ride
-Utigard Orchard Club BBQ and introduction of Adele, our Exchange Student
-Challenge Scholarship Program awards 2 scholarships to local High School Students
-Collected glasses, readers, sunglasses and magnifiers for Moses Lake Doctors for Nicaragua
-World Polio Day fund raiser dinner
-Apple gleaning in Cashmere for area food banks
-Town Toyota Center parking and cleanup fund raiser
-Highway clean up
-International Convention in Hamburg, Germany (2 club members attended)
-And many more....

Taro thanked the Executive Staff and Board of Directors for their contributions to the operation of the club. Taro presented the Mark Anderson Traveling Presidential Service Award to club secretary John Schapman for John's tireless work as club secretary. The award also includes the "Marky Outhouse Bobble Head (literally!).

Taro also thanked immediate Past President Lisa Parks for "attending" the Zoom Change-Over.

The POOPS (Past Order of Old Presidents) each read a section of a poem written by Carol Adamson. Great job, Carol!! We got Taro to smile a bit!

Taro read the induction service to induct incoming President Earl Crowe. Earl passed the test and starts July 1st!

Earl Crowe announced his Executive Staff: Erik Holmberg, President Elect, Kathleen McNalty, Vice President, Craig Reese, Treasurer, John Schapman, Secretary, and John McDarment, Executive Secretary. He then introduced his Board of Directors: Robin DeRock, 1 year; Rebecca Lyons, 1 year; David Barshes, 2 years; and Kaity VanWeerdhuizen, 2 years.

Earl has written a personal letter to each club member reminding them of their importance in the club, thanking them for their past contributions to the club's goals, and reminding them of the committee(s) they are on.

Earl made a statement that there was NOT going to be anymore Chuck Norris jokes told during our club meetings (Pay attention, Jim Huffman!)!

Reminder:

Jim Adamson reminded us of the Drive-By Farewell for Adele Thursday, June 25 at 5:30 - Farewell to Adele drive-by - we will meet at the west parking lot at Foothills Middle School in Wenatchee, and leave at 5:30 pm to caravan past Adele's house (1911 Leavenworth Place).  You may want to give her hugs, but we don't want to put her at risk of taking COVID back to Switzerland, so we are advising our members to keep their distance.  You will be able to hand her farewell cards, gifts, etc. as you go by, but keep moving as much as possible.  Feel free to decorate your car if you want.  We want to put on a good show of support for the great job she has done this year with our club and community. 

President Taro Masuda was reminded that he had one more meeting to chair then he was past history! Taro was sworn into the POOPS Club and shown the secret handshake. This to take effect on July 1st.

Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 pm.

June 16 Meeting Notes

Earl Crowe, President Elect, chaired the meeting. Club President Taro Masuda had a work-related absence.

We had 18 club members on the ZOOM call on Tuesday! A couple of members called in on their cell phones! Don't be shy! Try us out! ZOOM is easy to use! Ask Jim Adamson or Wayne Massing for help.

Announcements

Carol Adamson reminded everyone that next Tuesday, June 23rd there will be NO morning meeting. Instead there will be a Tuesday, June 23rd, 5:30 pm evening ZOOM call (same meeting number as the Tuesday morning one) for the Change-Over Program. Earl Crowe will be taking over as Club President from current President Taro Masuda, and the new board of directors will be inducted. Everyone is welcome. There will be a roasting of Taro, of course. Wear anything Hawaiian (No coconut shells, Robin!!) to make it seem more festive, and remind Earl of the trip to Hawaii he missed (Convention cancelled in Hawaii!)! Watch for the email reminder.

Jim Adamson reminded everyone of the "Drive By" to say goodbye to Adele, our Swiss Youth Exchange student. We will meet on Thursday, June 25th at Foothill Middle School, West parking lot, time TBD (email will be sent out with more details). Decorate your car. Cards and donations to Adele are encouraged! She will be leaving to go home on Saturday, June 27th!

Jim also announced that a "small," socially-distanced social was held at Mansour and Linda Ravassipour's home on Sat., June 13th was a huge success. Earl's neighbor George Broome attended, and announced that he was going to join the club! Everyone brought their own drinks, and Mansour & Linda furnished sandwiches, salad and side dishes. Many club members, spouses and guests were present.

The "travelling Unicorn Wig" made a brief appearance at the social, worn by Club President Taro Masuda. Who will get it next? Attend next week's Zoom meeting, or read this blog next week!

Joel Banken reported that the Rotary Youth Exchange for District 5060 has been cancelled for 2021 because of the CoVid-19 pandemic.









Robin DeRock reminded everyone that District Governor Elect Richard DeRock will be taking over as District Governor from DG Peter Schultz. The Change-Over will be Tuesday, June 30th at 5:30. They're suggesting get in mini-groups to participate via Zoom. More details to follow via email.



Speaking of Richard DeRock, our club's Governor Meeting with the new District Governor Richard DeRock will be on July 7th. More details to follow.

Kathleen announced that a staff member from the North Central Regional Library would be our speaker on Tuesday, June 30th to give a presentation on the renovation of the Wenatchee Library. Expect some volunteer opportunities for Rotarians to help in the moving of books again once the construction is done!

PJ Jones said the Hailey, Idaho Rotary Club has donated the software for us to use for our version of "Road Apple Roulette" for our fund raiser. This is about a $2000 donation to the club! Cookie, PJ's wife, offered to be the GPS marker person for the "deposits". Follow this link to see how the Road Apple Roulette works for the Hailey Rotary Club: Road Apple Roulette

Jim Adamson reported that the Wenatchee Rotary Club's Secretary, Frank Cliffton, announced the "Stuff the Bus" program. Fifteen thousand pounds of food and personal hygiene supplies will be collected by volunteers at the Grocery Outlet (Wenatchee) by June 27th. Volunteers should contact Selina at 509-699-0312.  Please bring a mask and work gloves.

Rotary International will have a Virtual Convention from June 20-26, 2020. Use this link to register for this Zoom Convention: 2020 Rotary Virtual Convention Free Registration This is FREE! See this speaker list and activities.

Brags and Confessions

Jim Huffman got a hair cut. The rest of the members didn't think so! Earl was fortunate enough to have a live-in hairdresser!

Wayne Massing got a new computer to replace the red laptop (NEVER buy a red computer!), and is able to get on the Zoom calls easier.

Alan and Kelly Walker got a new address and got all moved in! Kelly's birthday was last week on the 12th. Happy Birthday, Kelly.

Robin DeRock had lunch with Kathy Blare, a CoVid survivor. She traveled across the US back to Seattle after she was released from the hospital. (See the Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary blog for April 7, 2020, for Kathy's full story.)

Alan Walker's daughter was married in Iceland recently. Only the bride, groom and minister were present for the ceremony.

John and Betsy McDarment celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary! Way to go, Betsy and John!

Robin DeRock, sporting an electric blue wig with removable pig tails, showed us her Rotary PJs, and announced that black mold had been found in her bathroom (hence all the allergy/sinus problems). Cleaning crews are working on its removal.

Speed Classifications

Instead of a program for today's meeting, Carol Adamson announced we would be doing a Speed Classification of two of our newest members, Kelly Walker and Sam Mack. Each received the list of about 40 questions to formulate answers prior to the meeting. When it was their turn, each had 3 minutes to answer as many questions about themselves as possible. Carol asked the questions, while Jim was the timer. A brief compilation of their questions and answers follows:

Kelly Walker

Q: Where were you born? A: Spokane

Q: Where have you lived? A: Lake Chelan and Ellensburg

Q: What's your favorite Holiday? A: Christmas!

Q: What's the worst job you've held? A: Dental Assistant

Q: What did you like best about Rotary? A: The members were so welcoming!

Q: Where was your best vacation? A: Italy

Q: What's your favorite song? A: Sweet Home Alabama

Q: Who is your hero? A: My grandfather

Q: Who would you like to have dinner with? A: Jane Goodall

Q: Where did you go on your first date? A: A winery!

Q: What's your favorite thing to do? A: Long Beach walks!

Sam Mack

Q: Where were you born? A: Marysville

Q: What's your favorite Holiday? A: Christmas!

Q: What's the worst job you've held? A: Bag boy

Q: What would be the ideal job? A: Right Fielder for the Chicago White Sox

Q: How long have you been in Rotary? A: .87 years (he's an accountant)!

Q: How nominated you to join Rotary? A: Chris Loomis (former club member)

Q: What amazed you most about Rotary? A: How BIG it is!

Q: What's your favorite song? A: Thunder Road

Q: Who is your hero? A: My father

Q: Who would you like to have dinner with? Warren Buffett

Q: Where did you go on your first date? A: Ice Skating

Q: If you could time travel, where would you go? A: The White House on August 24, 1814 (When the British burned the White House! A History buff!)

Q: If you had a special talent, what would that be? A: Pitch a 100 mph fast ball

Earl adjourned the meeting at 8:45 am.

June 9 Meeting Notes

We had 22 club members, spouses and guests on the ZOOM call on Tuesday!

Announcements

Jim and Carol Adamson announced their 48th anniversary on June 10th. Congratulations to you both! They also announced that their grandson is an Oregon Graduate!

Kathleen McNalty was pleased to have her youngest son move out of their house!

PJ Jones received a $95 check from Rotary Widow Elaine Church in honor of her husband Bob, who would have been 95 years old this year. Thank you, Elaine!

Jim and Carol Adamson also announced a $50 donation from one of our Apple Century Bike Ride riders who prides himself as riding every ride since we started! Our Apple Century Bike Ride was canceled this year because of the CoVid-19 virus.

Wayne Massing has been having trouble with his computer for the last 3 weeks, so has "attended" the virtual meeting every week by using his phone. The computer is still in the shop, but is close to being fixed.

Robin DeRock cheered on Adele, our Swiss Youth Exchange student, as she graduated from Wenatchee High School. She will be leaving at the end of the month, so we will have a drive-by party of Rotarians. Details TBD.

John Schapman, Club Secretary, reported on the Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Board Meeting from Monday, June 8th.

-The board decided that the Change Over Dinner (virtual) will be 5:30 pm on Tuesday, June 23rd.

-There will be no morning Zoom meeting that day. Earl Crowe, the President Elect, presented his budget and it was approved by the board.

-The applications for our Challenged Scholarship Program were reviewed and selected. There are 9 applications.

Jim Adamson reported that the Wenatchee Rotary Club's Secretary, Frank Cliffton, announced the "Stuff the Bus" program. Fifteen thousand pounds of food and personal hygiene supplies will be collected by volunteers at the Grocery Outlet (Wenatchee) by June 27th. Volunteers should contact Selina at 509-699-0312.  Please bring a mask and work gloves.

Here is Westside High School graduate Adam, who our club "adopted". Robin and Kathleen took our gifts and presented them to him last week. Thanks to all who contributed. He was very grateful.










The Presidential Changeover Event will be at 5:30 on June 23. It will be a virtual Zoom meeting, and there will be no morning meeting that day. Taro will be roasted, outgoing officers and board members thanked, Earl inducted, along with the new officers and board. There will be a slide show of Taro's year.

We will also have a slide show of Adele's year. Our youth exchange student from Switzerland has done a great job this year, and we have missed seeing her in person the past couple months. To celebrate and honor her, we will be having a drive-by parade near the end of June to wish her well. She will be leaving on June 27. You are all encouraged to come by with a card, gift, etc. and let her know how much we have enjoyed having her here.  Details to come next week.

Brags and Confessions

Earl Crowe, President Elect, was the latest recipient for the Purple-Yellow-Green Unicorn wig. Earl and his family had a lot of fun with it. The pictures caused Robin to spray coffee from her nose again!

Earl teaches Anatomy at Wenatchee Valley College at night, so decided to share the unicorn wig with his skeleton Skinny!
Jim Huffman will be jealous of Earl's closeness to Chuck Norris.

Program

Kathleen McNalty introduced our speakers from Goathead Warriors, Ariahna Jones and Doug Pauly. She met them on the Loop Trail while they were working there.

Ariahna and Doug are co-founders of Goathead Warriors, who are a group of about 50 volunteers united to eradicate the noxious weed called "Goathead" or "Puncturevine". Noxious weeds are the traditional terms for invasive plants what are so aggressive they harm our local ecosystems or disrupt agricultural production. They cost farmers millions of dollars in control efforts and lost production, making the food we buy more expensive.

Their efforts have been to educate the public on Goatheads and be a boots-on-the-ground defense force to eradicate said weed! Wenatchee has declared the Goathead to be a public nuisance and local citizens found to have it growing on their property can be fined $100/day until it is removed.

Goatheads grow from a single tap root and then spread in vines along the top of the ground. Small seeds with pointed spikes grow on the vines. When the seed dry, they fall off the vines and attach themselves to anything that touches them. Shoes, boots, clothing, bike and vehicle tires are all methods for the Goatheads to spread to other areas. 

Doug said that most of the Goathead is in
undeveloped neighborhoods, like South Wenatchee. There the many rental properties aren't kept up and Goatheads spread rapidly. The city of Wenatchee, the Loop Trail and East Wenatchee has been divided up into 25 zones that are patrolled about every 3 weeks during the summer months. If found, it is cut flush with a

shovel that is flush with the ground surface. Many Western states and Mexico are areas where Goathead grows. Many other cities are modeling their noxious week program after Wenatchee's.

Ariahna showed slides of the simple equipment used to fight Goatheads: shovel, gloves and garbage bags. Where there is water, there is Goatheads!

Herbicides only work if the seeds are not formed. Tap roots can live for up to 5 years.

Goathead Warriors is a 501.3c.

Doug hoped that more people would bike if their tires weren't flattened by the sharp, Goathead seeds. Pictures of the Goathead can be found on their website: www.goatheadwarriors.com or on the website for the Noxious Weed Control Board: www.nwcb.wa.gov .

June 2, 2020 Meeting Notes

Announcements

Our Presidential Changeover Dinner is being planned for June 23 (tentative).  It may be done virtually, but we are also thinking of having it at an outdoor location (Sunrise Circle, etc.).  Would you feel uncomfortable with sharing side dishes people bring (salads and desserts), or would you rather have it catered?  Please let Rebecca or Kathleen know your preference.

PJ Jones contacted the Hailey, Idaho, Rotary Club regarding the use of their proprietary Road Apple Roulette fund raiser. The engineer who helps their club with this event was to call PJ and Pete Blanksma back with the details. It's expected that our club would be required to pay a small fee to their club for the use of the idea! More details to follow.

Kathleen McNalty gave details of the Adopt-a-Senior program within our club. Club members sponsor a graduating high school senior by giving them gift cards for merchants or money. Several club members donated to the cause by having Kathleen bill them on their quarterly invoices.

Robin DeRock gave advance notice of the green-purple-yellow unicorn wig making its way around the club. If you find it on your doorstep, gets some pictures of your wearing it, and pass it to another member by putting it on their doorstep!  And, of course, you have to wear it for the weekly Zoom meeting that week! Pictures will be posted on this blog and on the Wenatchee Sunrise Rotary Club's Facebook page. Robin passed it on to Wayne Massing who has passed it on to....read next week's blog to see who now has it!

Brags and Confessions

Check out the June birthdays and anniversaries on the right hand column (web view). Congrats to our fellow members who are celebrating.

Ruth Dagg said her son got married on the beach in Florida, and only the bride, groom and pastor were in attendance. They will plan a bigger celebration in October of this year. She also said that her daughter fled the Washington DC area because of all the sirens and protesting, and ended up at the beach house in North Carolina.

Earl Crowe, President Elect, said that his daughter Emma has transferred from Portland State to Central Washington University in Ellensburg. Portland State was having some financial difficulties. All of her credits transferred from Portland State to CWU. This transfer saved her over $12k/year!

Program

Zackary Banken, our club's outbound Youth Exchange student to India, was our speaker today. He gave a very detailed and informational slide show on his living in India for the 2019-2020 school year.

His host Rotary District was 3060. His host city of Surat, the "Diamond City", has a population of about 4.5 million people, and is in the the Northeast part of India. Within one of the host families, a host brother was an outbound Youth Exchange student to Mexico and a host sister was a YE student to Germany.

Their Indian neighborhood areas are called societies. During various festivals and events, the societies come together to celebrate or compete.

His school, called the Millennial School, required a 50 minute bus ride each way. This school required that the boys wear ties as part of the school uniform.

Upon arrival, he completed an orientation class with 7 other exchange students from the US, France, Mexico, Columbia and Germany. He met a Vermont girl who he knew from a previous YE event.

The local Rotary Club took the students on a day long trip from their school. The Rotary Club meeting were very formal and usually took place after an evening meal.

Zackary learned Hindi, although Gujarati and English is also spoken. Their meals were mostly vegetarian. Tea was service at least twice a day. Meals were usually a flat bread with various "gravies" or spreads on them.

Surat has many textile industries. Many of the host families or relatives were involved in either the manufacture of the textiles, dying them, or selling them.

India's religions are Hindu (80%),  Muslim (40%), and other (6%).

The rupee is the currency in India. 70R is equal to $1 USD. All the Indian paper money had Gandhi's picture on them.








Transportation is very cheap and is mostly powered rickshaws. OLA and JUGNOO are the Indian equivalent to our UBER. A typical ride would be 35 rupees ($.50 US).








From having over 330 million different Gods in India, there are many festivals to celebrate. The Garba Festival (the family goddess celebrating the womb) is 9 days of dancing. The Diwali festival is like New Years and our Christmas combined, and is the festival of lights. The Uttarayan festival is the festival of kites. Different societies (neighborhoods) and families fly kites. This festival was the subject of the book "Kite Runner". The Holi festival is a celebration of the end of Winter and the start of Spring, and is also celebrated as the victory of good over evil.

The Rotary Youth Exchange took the students on a tour of Southern India. In Munnar, the students toured tea fields first started by the British colonists. A tiger reserve was also visited.

The cultural tradition in India regarding marriage is that the wife moves in to the her new husband's home and lives with his family.

Zackary attended the Rotary District 3060 District Conference in Goa, a former Portuguese colony. There the students practiced a dance routine for 10 days before performing for the District Rotarians. At that event, the 50th anniversary of that district was celebrated.

During his visit, the CoVid-19 virus struck. He had only 1 week's notice before departing India to return to the US. At that time, there were many wearing masks in Mumbai, the largest city in India. Her arrived back home at the end of March, having had 2 months cut from his intended stay.

Questions that arose after his presentation were:
Q: What was the biggest surprise on your trip to India?
A: That English was spoken in most of India due to the British influence there when India was a British Colony.

Q: What were some of the courses you took in school there?
A: The schooling is arranged in 3 tracks: Science, Humanities, and Business. He was in the Science track along with 10 other students. The British Advancement Standards were used to advance between the different grade levels.

Q: What were the meals like?
A: Most meals were vegetarian. His first host family was 100% vegetarian, but NO eggs. Milk was okay, however! The second host family was non-vegetarian and ate meats. There were usually just 2 meals a day. There was a small snack for breakfast.

Q: Were there any Chuck Norris jokes? (asked by Jim Huffman)
A: No Chuck Norris jokes, but they had lots of fun with the Bollywood people.

Q: What was your favorite food?
A: Dosa, which was a crepe with different kinds of fillings. He tried to make them at home, without success!

Q: What were the different factories like?
A: The factories where the fabrics were dyed were very smelly, and the textile weaving factories were very noisy from all the machinery.

Q: What were the local Rotary Club meetings like?
A: They had a club of about 50 members, and the meeting were on Thursdays after dinner.

Zackary thanked our club for making it possible for his Youth Exchange trip.